Never read anything about this and was hoping to just to see here what the rest of you racers are doing? How often do you change your oil in your race only engine for drag racing?

I have been cleaning the filter after every event and changing the 9 Qt's after 25 1/4 mile runs.
6 in the pan + 1 in filter + 2ish in the Accumulator (poor mans dry sump).

I have been running Kendall 20W-50 with a fine screen 1 Qt System One filter in my 555 BBC for around 10 years. I'm now out of Kendall and have to swap to something else. I have to change cause Kendall changed the 20W-50 oil and from the looks it's just the same crude as found everywhere. I'm very nervous about this for sure. I run methanol fuel.

We had a topic up here on Kendall 20W-50 oil (green oil) at the start of the month and I was told that Penn Grade 1 oil was just like it. I can't find that oil in South Fla. graemlins/angry.gif

I'm going to go look for 20W-50 race oil Sunday, not exactly knowing what I will do. :confused:

Can anyone confirm that the Kendall oil was really green from green dye?

69LS1 had offered a great deal of detail as it relates to oil for street cars. He concluded that Chevron oil was best I think? My local Costco sells Chevron 20W-50. It had high Moly and Boron additives. Suggestions are welcome.

Paul,
WHen I had my 67 Camaro, I used to run Valvoline 10W40 Race. It was a fairly stout 355 for its time, shifted at 7500 and went throught the traps at about 7800. Mid 10's in a 3000 lb car with a flat tappet cam and Chevy heads ! I never had a problem , changed the oil & filter every 25 - 30 runs. Put over 1500 runs on the poor thing with 2 freshen ups. Sold it to another guy and he raced it for a year or so in a different car before it finally gave up. If I was doing it again today, it would have Mobil 1 in it, probably 10W30. I have seen Mobil 1 come out of an alcohol engine with no "milkiness" whatsoever. I have not seen many "natural" oils that would do that, if any. We have a couple of guys running our engines in some circle track cars. One has over 140 races on it with one freshen up, all with 10W30 Mobil one, changed every race. Right around 450 hp 355 Small Block.
If you don't like the idea of a synthetic, I dont think you can go wrong with Valvoline Racing 20W50, if thats the weight you want to run.

Try some synthetic. You won't need near as high a number because it doesn't thin out as much when it gets hot. Red Line would be a good one to look at first.

Bet your car will go faster.

Changed the oil in my pump gas 383 about every 15-25 runs. I ran Castrol 20W-50 and a Wix 51061 oil filter. I will probably do the same on the new 445 SBC if I ever get finished with it.

Paul...

I'd like to clairify something if I may... I was really refering to Dino oils and not any comparrisons with synthetics.... Others may disagree with what I said also ... But I am still useing the Chevron oils for my street cars..... But it wont be long before SM oils take the place of SL oils and everyones oils are likely going to change.....

Thats said I have read some info about the New Mobil 1 R oil... ( Racing )

Basically working out to a thin 30 it is loaded with AW ( anti wear ) additives...... I have read the results of one spectro analsys and it's potent stuff....I did not have this oil tested but this info was posted by someone who did and the Phosphorus was something like 82% higher than regular M1 and ZDDP (Zinc) was some 87% higher than regular M1...... Not a good oil for a Cat Conv but just might be the ticket for anything needing serious amounts of AW....... Other than this info I know nothing else about this oil and havent even seen it yet let alone used it.... Might be worth looking into tho.

BTW with respect to Kendall being green.... Back when Kendall made the switch they posted up an announcment on thier website stating that they were removing the green dye from GT-1 oils as part of these changes....

I change oil about once a year, if I remember to do it, at the begining of the season (this is a really low-bucks operation smile.gif ). Mine is gas not alcohol. I just changed from Valvoline 10w30 All Climate to Valvoline's straight 30wt racing oil. Reason being the higher zinc content. I might try a synthetic next time.

If I changed over to Mobil 1 R, the only weight they offer is 0W-30 only. My engine clearances are not a variable and 20W-50 is needed when the oil is at operating temp to maintain pressures. What does one do re/ API weights when they change from Dino to Syn?

Al I did not mean to miss quote you, sorry for any confusion. Of the Dino oils you looked at, didn't you say the Chevron oil had the best additive package? or was that just relative to Kendall? Any links or details you have for this would be a big help. In particular I'd like to see what they have in there 20W-50 oil. tks

Just went to the Chevron oil Web site and looked at >>>>DeloŽ 400 Multigrade Heavy Duty Motor Oil 15W-40 Performance<<<< looks like an interesting option..

Update 9AM
Chevron 10W-30 is API SL rated and ILCAS GF-3, the Chevron 20W-50 is also API SL rated but does not claim the ILSAC rating. With that said, the 20W-50 has an extra long line of attributes that the 10W-30 does not. It says: "Provides outstading protection for high performance, high RPM engines. Recomended for high temperature, heavy load conditions, such as trailer towing and motor homes." The next 4 statments they list are identical to the 10W-30. This Qt is date coded 3/03. I need to go see if the more recent Qt's have the GF-3. Al, is the ILSAC GF-3 the package the atracted you to this oil? Is it exclusive to Chevron?

Originally posted by BillK:
Paul,
WHen I had my 67 Camaro, I used to run Valvoline 10W40 Race. It was a fairly stout 355 for its time, shifted at 7500 and went throught the traps at about 7800. Mid 10's in a 3000 lb car with a flat tappet cam and Chevy heads ! I never had a problem , changed the oil & filter every 25 - 30 runs. Put over 1500 runs on the poor thing with 2 freshen ups. Sold it to another guy and he raced it for a year or so in a different car before it finally gave up. If I was doing it again today, it would have Mobil 1 in it, probably 10W30. I have seen Mobil 1 come out of an alcohol engine with no "milkiness" whatsoever. I have not seen many "natural" oils that would do that, if any. We have a couple of guys running our engines in some circle track cars. One has over 140 races on it with one freshen up, all with 10W30 Mobil one, changed every race. Right around 450 hp 355 Small Block.
If you don't like the idea of a synthetic, I dont think you can go wrong with Valvoline Racing 20W50, if thats the weight you want to run. Thanks Bill, I'll be looking at the Valvoline 10W40 Race today as well. The deal with the Methanol fuel is not like many think or at least with my tune up I never ever see oil dilution from the fuel. I do see condensation in the valve covers. The pan a vac pulls some out and when it gets and stays hot it's not too bad. If I had room between the front of the engine and the firewall I'd install a vacuum pump but it's just tight. I have the belt drive fuel pump and alternator. Would need about an 1" for a longer mandrill for the drive pulley.

Paul...

Hey no problems at all... Just wanted to make sure about the dino vs synth thing.

The research that I did was looking at VOA's and UOA's from dozens of different oils out there and trying to make sence out of them.I am not a chemistry expert. Time and again the Chevron oils seemed to have very low rates of engine wear metals in thier UOA's for " Normal Passenger Car Use ".....

I must admit up front that thus far I have little intrest in synth oils for my own use. All my cars have a " Severe Service " type of use and I change them often..... As an example my Impala...I bought it in Feb 2003....It's now been almost 1 year and I have a whopping 2883 miles on it... Driven virtually every day..... But I live 2 miles from work...so about the time it's warmed up I shut the thing off....Perhaps 400 of those miles has been on the freeway.... So I am abusing this thing big time... Therefore I change my oil fairly often....
The Chevron oils are inexpensive and easy to find here in my area and the wear VS Dollars are unmatched for a short OCI.

Many people are touting 10,000 + mile OCI's with synthetics and thats fine....but useless for me.I am not going to change my oil once every 3 years.

But the UOA's have shown that with a good quality Dino oil like the Chevron if changed in a more normal 3 to 5 K OCI works as good or better than many synthetics as far as wear metals are conserned.The Synths really seem to help at the extremes in temp...either hot or cold....there they clearly are superior....But I live in the Bay Area where it rarely gets below 30F and rarely gets above 100 F....If however one were to go for a long ..say 8K plus type OCI the synths will likely be superior in those type of useages.

The Starburst GF-3 ratings are only applicable to lower viscosity oils ...only a few XW-40s' even qualify...but most of the lighter weight stuff does... these oils have friction modifiers in them to reduce viscous friction...ie the oil has these multi layer additives that ease the oils own movement within any space that it's traveling....That was done purely fore CAFE reasons and not necesarly for engine protection.It seems to have been proven to help fuel economy anywhere from 0 to 2% or there abouts.... But the political people will take any and all fuel economy bennifits they can get.These had no real effect on my choosing Chevron...as there are many different oil companies who submit thier oils for this certifications..... I do use the Chevron Supreme GF-3 10W-30 in my Impala as the warrenty requires it.... But my other cars use the Delo 15W-40 and it does not carry the GF-3 certifications.

I'm afraid I have never used anything heavier than a 40W oil...and have no expirence with the heavier oils....But around the greater Bay Area 20W-50 is very popular...Many people commute from the Central Valley to the Bay Area and it's not uncommon for the Central Valley to get to 115 deg F in summer.

I'm afraid I dont know anyone usesing a Fleet type 15W-40 oil in a race application...I think Gene (427L88) was or is useing Penz LL 15W-40 in his Chevelle but I think he's useing gasoline... Many people I know have switched to synth in the lighter weights for thier race only engines with Redline and Royal Purple being fairly popular...But again all these people I know are useing Gasoline.

If you want to check into one of the oldest oil companies for has a very fine reputation and high quality products ...but is a small company check out Schaeffer Oil...No it's not a well known name but a more specialized company who does make " Race Oils " along with many other products.... You will have to buy it from an oil distributor tho.

http://www.schaefferoil.com

I wish I knew more about this subject but I am just trying to learn about this very complicated subject of oil....And I have never used Methonal.. except once as an expirment.... WOW... felt like there was another engine under the hood ! But that was just one tankfull 25 years ago...

Paul,
One of my good friends and a customer, runs a small block on alky in a Super Gas Camaro. We were totally amazed after switching to Mobil 1 that there is absolutely none of the typical condensation that you see with an alcohol engine. Now, when checking the valves between rounds, there is no "milkshake" under the valve covers.

Paul...

I just thought of something slightly off the wall here about this subject...May I E Mail You ?

Originally posted by 69LS1:
Paul...

I just thought of something slightly off the wall here about this subject...May I E Mail You ? I'll be awating... don't kid yourself.. you are the oil Master on this BB for sure...

I'm like you, but for different reasons. Synthetic oil may be way better but at $50 per change I just can't see the advantages. Of course if it was free from a sponsor it would be perfect, but that's not the case.

I never have milk shake under the valve covers. I installed block heaters on both sides of my block (the ones the replace the freeze plug) and always preheat my engine to 160 before starting and keep it plugged in when at a race with long delays between rounds. This little addition ended all that heavy condensation and many other little issues. I can pull out a breather and flip it and get a tablespoon or so at the end of the night but that about it. I run my FI pretty lean. EGT in the traps is 1300F on trend of 3 cylinders. I have a high speed lean out. Oil temperature is 150 to 185 max. The temp rise in oil is 15 to 20F on a pass.

I went to Pep Boys and Auto Zone just pricing and looking today.
Mobil 1 $4.79 GOLD man lol
They do not sell the Mobil Race oil but at $10/ it would not matter... I would of like to touch it just one time. lol
Kendall 20W-50 $1.59/ API=SL,SJ and SH
Vavoline Race 20W-50 $2.29
Castrol Syn Blend 20W-50 $2.79 API=SL + SF-3

One last stop to compair Costco for Chevron Supreme oil.

Thanks all for your input. I love the BB and the users. A great wealth of knowledge for sure... graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Hehehe Paul... Once you check this stuff out you will realize I dont know much about oil !! Mail on it's way to ya.

After a few days of research and looking into what was available local I'm going with the Valvoline VR-1 20W-50. Pray for my 555 engine.

Hope it all works out well for ya....555's dont come cheap !

Why don't you go over to http://www.insidetopalcohol.com/ it's a fourm like Team Chevelle. A lot of Top Alcohol teams post on it. They my be able to help you sence you've mentioned using the methanol. Hope this helps.

AK

I run 20W-50 Valvoine Racing oil...we have always run that in all of our race engines. No problems yet. This last year the oil was changed after every race, but because I am on an 1/8 mile track, I may change it after 2 races and see how the oil comes out.